Marisol (actress)

Josefa Flores González, better known as Marisol or Pepa Flores, is a Spanish singer and actress. She is considered one of the most popular icons of the 1960s in Spain. "Marisol", in Spanish terms, means "sea and sun", or Mari of the sun.

Biography

Marisol was born with the name María Josefa Flores on 4 February 1948 in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. From early on, she demonstrated a great love of singing and the traditional flamenco dance. In 1959, she was discovered by the film producer, Manuel José Goyanes Martínez, who saw one of her appearances on television. She became an international sensation, from Spain to Japan.

The film director, Luis Lucia Mingarro, propelled her to national stardom in the film trilogy Un rayo de luz (Ray of Light), Ha llegado un ángel (An Angel Has Arrived) and Tómbola (Lottery). The films featured Marisol singing one of her best-known songs: "La vida es una tómbola" ("Life Is A Lottery"), among others like "Corre, corre, caballito" ("Run, Run, Little Horse"), "Bambina", "Ola, Ola, Ola", "Estando contigo" ("Being With You"), "Chiquitina" ("Little Girl") or "Nueva melodía" ("A New Melody"). In 1963, she also starred in Marisol Rumbo a Río (Marisol Is Bound for Rio), where she played both twins—like Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap and sang "Bossanova junto a ti" ("Bossanova With You"), "Muchachita" ("Little Woman"), "¡Oh, Tony!" and "Guajiras". She also co-starred with Robert Conrad in the 1964 movie La Nueva Cenicienta (The New Cinderella) in which she sang another of her best-known songs, "Me conformo" ("I Am Happy"). Mel Ferrer directed her in Cabriola (Prancer) in 1965 in which she sang"Cabriola", "¡Ay, vagabundo!", "Ya no me importas nada" ("You Mean Nothing to Me") and "Sevillanas". During that movie Audrey Hepburn went shopping with Marisol to Paris. She also appeared in Búscame esa chica (Find That Girl) with the Spanish idols "El Duo Dinámico" (a popular duet of the sixties and seventies), which had some biographical elements—it featured Marisol singing "Mi pequeña estrella" ("My Little Star"), "Typical Spanish" and "Solo a Ti" ("Only You") and she made a brief appearance in La historia de Bienvenido (The Bienvenido's Story), a tale about a donkey.

In 1967, she starred in the comedy Las cuatro bodas de Marisol (The Four Weddings of Marisol), where she was again the daughter of actress Isabel Garcés and she sang "La Boda" ("The Wedding"), "Johny", "Belen, Belen" with the Catalan flamenco singer Peret and "La tarara" inspired by a poem of García Lorca. She also played Solo los dos (Two Alone), where she featured "La nieve" — Marisol's most popular song in South America, composed by Juan Pardo and the famous singer Rocío Dúrcal's husband, Júnior. She appeared in Carola de día, Carola de noche (Carola by Day and by Night), which wasn't very successful. In 1969 she appeared in the choral comedy El taxi de los conflictos (The problem cab), where she sang the popular "Corazón contento" ("Happy Heart"), composed by the famous Argentinian singer Palito Ortega.

She was a familiar children's icon during the 1960s, and entertained many high-ranking dignitaries, including Francisco Franco. As an adult, she was awarded the Best Actress prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for her role in Los Días del Pasado (Days Gone By). A few years before she also played La corrupción de Chris Miller (The corruption of Chris Miller), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem, the uncle of awarded Spanish actor Javier Bardem; La chica del Molino Rojo (The Girl from the Red Cabaret), co-starred with Mel Ferrer; and El poder del deseo (The Power of Desire), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and co-starred with Pilar Bardem.

As an adult she replaced her stage name with her given name, Pepa Flores. Her most recent films are Carlos Saura's Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding) based on García Lorca's play and Carmen, 1983. She appeared in the title role of the Spanish national television series Mariana Pineda in 1984, in which she played a Liberal Party's hero and in the film Caso Cerrado with Antonio Banderas, where she was applauded for her leading role in 1985.

She has three daughters from her relationship with dancer Antonio Gades, who died in 2004. One of her daughters, María Esteve, is also an actress, and her youngest daughter, Celia, is a pop flamenco singer. Pepa Flores is retired and lives with her husband in Málaga, where she works for charitable causes. She was a sympathizer, but never a member, of the Spanish Communist Party. She left the party after her divorce to Antonio. The Spanish press calls her "un mito", a living legend.

Filmography (1960–85)

• Un rayo de luz (Ray of Light) (1960) ... Marisol
• Ha Llegado un ángel (An Angel Has Arrived) (1961) ... Marisol
• Tómbola (Lottery) (1962) ... Marisol
• Marisol Rumbo a Río (Marisol Is Bound For Rio) (1963) ... Marisol/Mariluz
• La Nueva Cenicienta (The New Cinderella) (1964) ... Marisol
• La Historia de Bienvenido (The Bienvenido's Story) (1964) ... Marisol
• Búsqueme a esa chica (Find That Girl) (1965) ... Marisol
• Cabriola (Prancer) (1965) ... Chica
• Las Cuatro Bodas de Marisol (The Four Weddings of Marisol) (1967) ... Marisol
• Solos los dos (Two Alone) (1968) ... Marisol Collado
• Carola de día, Carola de noche (Carola by day and by night) (1969) ... Carola Jungbunzlav
• El Taxi de los Conflictos (The Problem Cab) (1969)... Patricia
• Urtain, el rey de la selva...o así (Urtain, King of the Mountains) (1969)
• La Corrupción de Chris Miller (The Corruption of Chris Miller) (1973) ... Chris Miller
• La Chica del Molino Rojo (The Girl from the Red Cabaret) (1973)
• El Poder del Deseo (The Power of Desire) (1975) ... Juna
• Los Días del Pasado (Days Gone By) (1978) ... Juana
• Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) (1981)
• Carmen (1983) (credited as Pepa Flores)
• Caso Cerrado (1985) (credited as Pepa Flores) ... Isabel

Television appearances

• The Ed Sullivan Show (23 April 1961)
• De Rudi Carrell Show (VARA, Netherlands) (1961)
• "Sábado 64" (31 July 1965)
• "Noche del sábado" (2 October 1965)
• "Gran Premio" (9 October 1966)
• "Galas del sábado" (October 1968)
• "Galas del sábado" (17 May 1969)
• "Galas del sábado" (December 1969)
• "El Irreal Madrid" (1969)
• "Galas del sábado" (7 June 1970)
• 360° en torno a Marisol (1972)
• OTI Song Contest (1972)
• Proceso a Mariana Pineda (Nov/Dec 1984) (credited as Pepa Flores) (5 episodes) ... Mariana Pineda

Awards

• 1960 – Best Child Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival for her performance in Un rayo de luz.
• 1972 – 3rd position OTI Festival prize for her song "Niña".
• 1978 – Best Actress Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for the film Los días del pasado (Days of the Past) directed by Mario Camus.

References

External links

• (Spanish) Marisol-Pepa Flores, la estrella malagueña de España
• (Spanish) Pepa Flores enterró a Marisol.